Results 15,381-15,400 of 21,096 for speaker:Charles Flanagan

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Passport Services (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: The passport service is in peak season with 53,139 applications in the system as of 1 July. The level of demand is very high this year with an 11% rise in the number of applications year-to-date compared to the same period last year. However, the situation has improved somewhat in recent weeks. On 31 May, there were a total of 68,009 applications in the system and this figure has fallen...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: EU Funding (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: While I am speaking on the subject of migration policy, I want to clarify a matter. During statements on migration and the refugee crisis on 28 April, I reacted to remarks made in the House by Deputies Mick Wallace and Clare Daly by making a rather flippant remark about Deputy Wallace's visit to Dunkirk and Calais. I subsequently apologised to Deputy Wallace outside the House but I now wish...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: EU Funding (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: I will say, again, that Médecins sans Frontières is mainly funded by private donations. If it takes a view that it will no longer accept donations, that decision remains one for the charity. With regard to Turkey, it remains an essential partner in the very difficult and challenging attempts to manage the current migration crisis. The European Union and Turkey have engaged deeply...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: EU Funding (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: My officials are available at all times to meet any groups who may request a meeting and I am sure that includes the groups referred to by the Deputy if such a meeting is sought. It is important to remember that a key element of the intensified engagement with Turkey is to assist in alleviating the suffering of those most affected by the migration crisis who are those who have had to flee...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: I stress again that the Government acknowledges the unique circumstance that is Northern Ireland and the unique circumstances that exist on the island of Ireland. These will remain our priorities in the context of our relationship with the United Kingdom as it prepares to withdraw from the European Union but, more particularly, our relationship with the European Union in the context of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: At my meeting with the Secretary of State we agreed that, irrespective of the result or of any utterances that may have taken place in the course of the campaign by any political leader or otherwise, the Good Friday Agreement remains the foundation stone for the two Governments' approach to Northern Ireland. The result of the referendum does not in any way diminish the importance, centrality...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: EU Funding (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: My understanding is that we are grouping two questions together in this reply, Nos. 23 and 24.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: EU Funding (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 24 together. MSF Ireland informed my Department on 15 June that the organisation globally had taken the decision that it would no longer accept European Union or member state funding for its humanitarian programmes. It explained that MSF opposed the EU-Turkey refugee facility agreed by the European Council and believes that EU asylum and migration...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: As I said in the House last week during the important discussion on the implications of the outcome of the UK referendum, I believe there is a collective determination across the Government and Opposition benches to meet the challenges and uncertainties of the period ahead. Our work together over the next months and years must serve Irish national interests as we construct a new environment...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: I agree with the Deputy on the importance of the points at issue. We have been engaged in a review of our personnel and have put into effect something of a redeployment, but this involves much more than the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, has a particular role to play. However, my Department will...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: In the interim period while the negotiation process is being established, our new economic diplomacy strategy, which I launched earlier this year, offers an opportunity to build on the commercial capacity of our embassy network across the world, which supports Irish business and complements the work of the State agencies. In this regard, my Department has launched a pilot programme of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: Last Wednesday, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I convened a quarterly review meeting of the Fresh Start and Stormont House agreements. The First and Deputy First Minister represented the Executive, as did the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice. As well as the review meeting, I held separate bilateral meetings with the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, the SDLP leader,...

European Council Meeting: Statements (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: Yes, my view is that there is a deep understanding on the part of the other 26 member states that will potentially form the remaining European Union of the unique status of Ireland with particular reference to the island of Ireland, the peace process, the Border and the common travel area. That acknowledgement has been forthcoming, particularly in my own bilateral engagement. I have not, at...

European Council Meeting: Statements (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: I am pleased to bring today's debate to a conclusion. As the Taoiseach has mentioned, I will focus my remarks on the items covered at the summit under the heading of external relations. The European Council adopted conclusions on Libya, where the situation remains most fragile. There has been some welcome progress since the signing of a political agreement in December, but the...

European Council Meeting: Statements (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: The Government and I welcome the presentation of the new global strategy setting out a vision for European Union foreign and security policy. It commits the European Union to the promotion of peace, prosperity, democracy and the rule of law. I welcome that the strategy encompasses both foreign and security policy, taking in a global perspective. I assure the House that Irish concerns have...

European Council Meeting: Statements (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: International engagement on the issue of broadband and our national strategy has not featured in my conversations at EU level. The Cabinet took a decision today, following consideration of a number of options, to proceed by way of a national plan. I am sure the Dáil will have the opportunity to discuss this at an early date. I have no knowledge of any European influence on or...

European Council Meeting: Statements (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: I do not agree with Brian Hayes, MEP, in his setting out of the circumstances under which Ireland may at some future time leave the European Union. I stress, as I have done with my colleagues and as the Taoiseach did at the recent Council meeting, that Ireland firmly remains an active and constructive member of the European Union and the eurozone, irrespective of the result of the UK...

European Council Meeting: Statements (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: The framework for negotiations is currently under way. At the European Council meeting it was stated that the negotiations will certainly be led by the European Council and at that level among EU Heads of State and Government. There will be a role for the Commission in the matter of the technical issues surrounding the negotiations. Ultimately there will be a role for the European...

European Council Meeting: Statements (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: I was not.

European Council Meeting: Statements (5 Jul 2016)

Charles Flanagan: There were a number of questions. Obviously, when the 27 EU Heads of State or Government met in Brussels on 29 June they considered by way of initial reflection the result of the referendum. There was a preliminary discussion on its implications for the European Union, in the short and in the longer term. Indeed, it is true that the outcome has highlighted something of a crisis of...